It was April 1975 and Spurs were hosting Leeds United, the reigning First Division champions, at White Hart Lane.
Tottenham eventually won 4-2 in front of almost 50,000 supporters, but Conn's extraordinary piece of showboating remains one of the most enduring images from the game.
And, as he tells it, it was never planned.
“The ball got played out to me and I thought, ‘Ah, I’ll sit on it,’” Conn told Football Presse.
“I was waving the full-back to come and basically saying, ‘I’m going to go by you again.’”
It was classic Conn.
The former Rangers, Tottenham and Celtic forward was renowned for taking defenders on and playing with a freedom that made him a favourite with supporters.
But there was one small problem.
Leeds were not the sort of team you necessarily wanted to provoke.
“They were a fabulous team at the time,” Conn said.
And Tottenham were not playing for nothing.
“We had to beat Leeds in the last game of the season to stay in the First Division.”
The situation made Conn's decision all the more remarkable.
Tottenham had raced into a 3-0 lead, and the home supporters were enjoying themselves. Conn, apparently, decided there was no better time for a little theatre.
“I sat on the ball and I was waving the full-back to come and get me, basically saying, ‘I’m going to go by you again.’”
Then he stood up and looked towards the Leeds goal.
That was when he noticed Pat Jennings.
“I remember when I sat on the ball, I stood up and looked around at their goal and Pat Jennings was in goal for us.”
The Tottenham goalkeeper's reaction told Conn everything.
“He just shook his head.”
And suddenly Conn started questioning his own judgement.
“Then I said to myself, ‘What have you done?’”
For good reason.
Leeds had been beaten 3-0 by Tottenham in the 1972-73 season before going on to win the league title, and by 1975 they remained one of the strongest sides in England.
Don Revie's team contained the likes of Billy Bremner, Norman Hunter, Peter Lorimer, Allan Clarke and Gordon McQueen. They were also preparing to face Bayern Munich in the European Cup final the following month.
Conn had just given them another reason to be angry.
Then Leeds scored.
“After that happened, Peter Lorimer scored a cracker from about 30 yards, and all of a sudden it was 3-2.”
The mood changed.
“We were fighting for our lives, you know. So it could have gone the other way.”
That was when the joke could have become a very expensive mistake.
“If we’d got beat that game, I’d have got slaughtered.”
Tottenham survived.
More than that, Conn scored the fourth goal to settle the match and complete a 4-2 victory.
But the ball stunt had already become the story.
And remarkably, it was not even the first time Conn had sat on a football that season.
“The Saturday before the Leeds game, we played Arsenal at Highbury,” he said.
“That was a completely different scenario. The game had stopped and I had the ball from the referee.”
Conn decided to entertain himself.
“I said, ‘Ah, I’ll just have a wee seat.’ So I sat on top of the ball.”
This time there was no relegation drama and no angry Leeds players waiting to punish him.
“In fact, one of the Arsenal players — I can’t remember who it was — said, ‘Alfie, we are finished.’”
The Arsenal incident was simply a bit of fun.
The Leeds incident became something else.
“It was never planned,” Conn insisted. “It was something that happened.”
That distinction matters because Conn's entire playing personality was built around spontaneity.
“I think the Tottenham supporters took to me because I loved to take players on and beat players.”
That was what they wanted to see.
“And then once I sat on the ball, that was the highlight.”
The reaction inside White Hart Lane was enormous.
“The roof came off,” Conn recalled.
But while the supporters loved it, Conn knew afterwards that he had taken a considerable risk.
Leeds were fighting for their own ambitions and Tottenham were fighting for survival.
One more goal could have transformed a brilliant afternoon into a disaster.
“Peter Lorimer scored a cracker from about 30 yards and all of a sudden it was 3-2,” Conn said.
“We were fighting for our lives.”
Thankfully for Conn, Tottenham held their nerve.
He scored the fourth goal, Spurs secured the points and the famous ball stunt became part of the club's folklore.
Decades later, it is still the first thing many Tottenham supporters mention when Conn talks about his time at the club.
“I do quite a few Tottenham things,” he said.
“And everybody, that’s the first thing they mention — me sitting on the ball against Leeds.”
Not the goals.
Not the matches.
Not the players he played alongside.
The ball.
“It’s all about sitting on the ball against Leeds.”
There is something wonderfully appropriate about that.
Conn played in an era when footballers could express themselves in ways that would probably produce a very different reaction today.
He was willing to take on defenders, entertain crowds and occasionally test the patience of opponents.
Against Arsenal, sitting on the ball was harmless fun.
Against Leeds, it was a calculated-looking act of cheek that was actually nothing of the sort.
“I thought, ‘Ah, I’ll sit on it.’”
That was it.
No plan. No rehearsed celebration. No attempt to create a famous football moment.
Just Alfie Conn, a football at his feet and a defender waiting to be taken on.
The only difference was that this time, the entire story could have gone horribly wrong.
“Then I said to myself, ‘What have you done?’”
He needn't have worried.
Tottenham won 4-2, Conn scored, Spurs survived and the moment became one of the most memorable images of his career.
Nearly half a century later, the goal has become part of the story.
The ball is the memory.
Alfie Conn's book "What's it all About? The Alfie Conn Story" is from Pitch Publishing - which is available here.
